Multiple Sources Project Patriots Cutting Captain, Multi-Year Starter

Getty

Kyle Dugger of the New England Patriots looks on during the game against the Los Angeles Chargers

The New England Patriots conducted a complete and total roster reconstruction over the offseason. Close to 50% of the current players under contract were not with the team this time last year. Several sources fear this roster turnover might result in the Pats parting ways with four-year starting safety, Kyle Dugger.

It’s hard to ignore where Kyle Dugger sits on the depth chart these days,” writes famed Patriots insder Phil Perry. That he was on the field for the final play Saturday, intercepting a pass but not getting down quickly and nearly having the football stripped for a game-tying fumble recovery, indicates the Patriots see him as little more than depth at the moment. He’s been stiff in space and doesn’t look like the kind of safety Vrabel is looking for.”

So who is it then? Who is the player Perry predicts will dethrone last season’s captain, who has amassed 190 tackles in the last two seasons?

Why it’s Dell Pettus of course.

“Pettus may not fit that description perfectly, either, but he was around the football in preseason game No. 2, and he gained some special teams experience under coordinator Jeremy Springer last season,” Perry concludes.

Pettus appeared in all 17 games last season as a rookie undrafted free agent. He is credited with just one start on defense, with an overwhelming majority of his rookie year snap share coming on special teams where he started on multiple units.

He stands five-foot-eleven, 200 pounds and made 28 tackles his rookie year.

The Sports Hub Predicts Kyle Dugger Cut As Well

Perry isn’t the only journalist who doesn’t see a spot for Kyle Dugger on this defense. 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Alex Barth also predicts the two parties parting ways before the season begins.

Kyle Dugger felt squarely on the bubble last week, and the near end-of-game fumble was the kind of play he may not have been able to afford,” Alex Barth writes. “That kind of mental mistake is the kind of thing Vrabel and this coaching staff have preached cutting down on since they were hired.”

Like Perry, Barth looks to Pettus to potentially fill the void left by 2023’s leading tackler.

“The group is a little thin without Dugger though, especially in terms of box safeties,” writes Barth. If he doesn’t make the team it could open the door for Dell Pettus, either as a practice squad elevation or for an outright roster spot.

Eliot Wolf Says There Is ‘Still A Role’ For Dugger

Today was the first practice since the team’s game on Saturday. Dugger was seen once again working with the scout team.

With just eight days until roster cuts are finalized, Executive Vice President of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf was asked about the future of the safety.

“I think there’s still a role,” Wolf said. “It’s about trying to find the right combination and earn a role. The safety position is a lot based on communication. And so getting Craig [Woodson], who’s a rookie out there with different combinations of people, is something that we’re looking at as well.”

Multiple Sources Project Patriots Cutting Captain, Multi-Year Starter

The Sports Hub Predicts Kyle Dugger Cut As Well

Eliot Wolf Says There Is ‘Still A Role’ For Dugger

0 Comments